Most respectfully (I mean that!) if $350 is going to slow you down, I think you should definitely not buy the boat. It's just the beginning of a long road. I bought a pretty good boat this summer for $6500. I'm probably going to put $6500 into it this year to fix a lot of things I discovered along the way (this is after having it surveyed). Money just goes. I'm currently spending money I don't have on things I need, but I have a good job and can pay the stuff off. It's a long story.

Seriously though, there are awesome trailerable sailboats and you can have an amazing time on them. I don't regret going with the boat that I ended up with, but an Oday 2+2 or something like that would be cheap and you could do plenty of amazing stuff with it. You'll be learning on a real boat instead of putting money you don't have into something that ultimately isn't worth it. And if you can't afford hauling and launching and dockspace etc...you can't afford it. It's going to not be fun.

$350 isn't what would slow me down. it's $350 right now all at once. I can't just pull money out of my butt. if I could i'd spend all day picking my ass. lol. seriously, though. I need time to gather that kind of money. I can't just yank it out of the bank. I don't have it.

what kind of boat did you buy for $6500 and still need to put another $6500 into it? it must really be something. for Pete's sake, I bought my holiday 20 from a guy, who needed to sell it badly in November one year, for $800 and I had to put $0.00 into it to fix it up.

everyone keeps talking about putting money into something that isn't worth it. I know that no one wants to see me make a big mistake but what determines value? is it resale value? if so, that's a losing game. depending on how long you own any boat, unless it's the HMS Bounty or something, you are going to lose most of your investment when you sell it. things that get used depreciate in value.

to me, value is what something brings into your life. now, I wouldn't take this boat, even if I owned my own boat yard, if it was not a functional boat. but what does it take to be a functional boat?

1) a water tight hull. that's the biggest thing.
2) decent spars and standing rigging.
3) a big plus is a good rudder, although one could be fabricated. I do fabricate things but I will list it as a necessity
4) sails are important on my list because they are a costly item and you need them to sail

that's pretty much it. with those things, and nothing else, I can sail her. use azak planks to cover the missing hatches so rain can't get in and you have a usable sailboat.

if the blocks are bad, I could make blocks, although i'd probably buy them one at a time. people used to make blocks by hand so I can do that.
lines can be cleaned or replaced. that's a normal wear item.
I could make a new tiller if that one is shot.
that piece of damaged rub rail is n big thing.
any interior stuff: cabinetry, berth cushions, etc can be made as I go along and the materials aren't that costly. I have the tools and skills. in fact, even if I had to gut the entire interior down to the liner, I could build a new interior. not much different than building houses and I do that.
so, what else is there? maybe some fiberglass repair if there are bad spots. not that hard. paint. bottom paint and top paint. not needed to sail, immediately. still, it's a normal maintenance item.
the hatches? if I can't manufacture new ones, then I really have lost my skills.

so, if you really look at it clearly, as long as I check the first four items carefully, the cost of fixing the rest is not that much. I could, pretty much, get use of the boat almost immediately ( after a bath...for the boat, not me ). the really big hurdle, and I think the highest cost, is a place to keep it.

this boat has an advantage over my holiday. my holiday, the boat itself, needs no real work to be sailed. oh, after sitting, the halyards need cleaned and it could use a little paint. I could have been sailing it all summer. however, the trailer has rusted out on the central frame beam; the tongue as it extends to the axle. it rusted through right where it hits the axle frame member. I can't get to it to weld it with the boat on it. not having a big fork lift, a crane, or a large pond in my back yard; I am having an issue with getting the boat off of the trailer, in my mom's yard, to fix the trailer. fixing the trailer will be easy. it's getting the boat off of it that is hard and I can't take the boat anywhere to remove it because the trailer is unsafe.

but this boat is already on the water. if I can find a place to keep it, and muster the funds for docking rent, I can clean her up and sail her anytime I want. unlike the holiday, which requires another person to help me raise the mast ( I can't lift it in place, hold it there AND hook up the jib stay at the same time ), this boat already has a stepped mast and wouldn't need trailered. I could just drive to the water, carrying my sails in a sail bag, and, after bending the sails on, sail away. no fuss and I could do it solo, if I need to.

one big issue, with the holiday is, even if I fix the trailer and can start sailing tomorrow, my girlfriend's apartment complex doesn't allow trailers. she lives near the bay. so, on the weekends, when I stay down there with her, I can't just pull the boat down with me and go sailing. i'd have to go down Friday night, come back up for the boat Saturday and head back down to the water to sail, then bring it back Saturday night, and head back down Saturday night. that's over an hour each way. including my trip home Sunday night, or Monday, that's 6 hours on the road and I only get to sail one day. what if I wanted to sail a Sunday? I can't keep the trailer there overnight. so, to use my holiday, I will need to find some place, down there, to store it. then I can just drive over to where I store it and pick it up. but that is still a storage fee. so I will be paying to store a boat either way.

anyhow, that's where my thoughts are taking me. but, either way, if I can't find an affordable marina, I can't take the boat except to scrap it out...and I don't know if I can bring myself to cut a functioning boat up.

now, today, since I thought the boat was on back river, I only checked there for a marina. the boat is actually on middle river, so I can check there. it's further from Baltimore so maybe I will have better luck. things get more expensive the closer you get to the inner harbor.

you ever see those cups at bars or convenience stores; the ones with someone's picture and hard luck story on them asking for donations? I should put a save the sailboat cup at a few different places and see if I can get donations. if you word it well, you can get people to donate to anything. lol. I mean, if you get 1000 people to donate a single dollar, each...

It's never that easy. If it were he would have people lined up. He literally can't give it away. If it were worth any amount of money he'd be selling it and someone would buy it. No such thing as a free boat.

there was a guy that tried to get it the weekend before I saw the ad. it fell through when he couldn't find a trailer. same problem I have: how or where to take it.

Well its already been determined that you cant come up with the three fifty for the yard so why are we still talking about this? Plus you will need that much to ship it or build a trailer for it. Plus you already have two boats. Sell those, if you can, the boat market is down and boats are not selling quick, and pick up a bigger boat is what I would suggest. If a bigger boat is what you are looking for?

If we're pretty sure that this boat spent time submerged, with no hatch, it's going to require much more than cleaning up. Every deck penetration from above and below (typically below is not a concern) that wasn't perfectly bedded, will have let water into the core. Water under pressure, btw. If that penetration and was anywhere near a chain plate, she would be dangerous, even if you cleaned her up and she looked okay. Are you able to determine if she has delamination? Then, can you tell if the standing rigging is safe? How will you get up the mast? When these parts corrode, they can't just be cleaned up, they must be replaced. Otherwise, wire under a thousand pounds of force could slap down on your head.

The points made about negative value are not a concern over resale. The point is that anything you spend on making this boat sailable will be more than you would have to pay to buy the same boat you end up with. Odds are that this boat will be disposable too and then you'll have to give it away or pay to have it scrapped and the money is gone. Better to buy a boat with that same money that will last.

"Rotten to the core" comes to mind. Be careful. Your prior experience with daysailors may not translate to this boat. There's a whole lot more that can go wrong, a whole lot more $$$ that you may have to pour into it. Most of the $$$ will have to be paid up-front.

that is really nice. how much you think he wants? i am sure i could never afford it. what do you use to pull such a trailer?

Jack it's not a trailer boat. If you look you can see the cradle. the hydraulic trailer is used for lifting and moving the boats in/out the water and around the yard. I have seen the boat move with the inboard running.

the story I have so far is Boat angel sold if for $100 but the deal fell through. As far as I know at this point he owes the boat club only $200. I have no interest in this other then trying to help my club get rid of another "dead boat" Last night I was given permission the "find" someone that would want to take this boat. Anyone interested contact me please!

"Next best thing to not having a boat? The knowledge from having one!" Denise, Bristol PA, On Tidal Delaware River, Anchor Yacht Club. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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Jack it's not a trailer boat. If you look you can see the cradle. the hydraulic trailer is used for lifting and moving the boats in/out the water and around the yard. I have seen the boat move with the inboard running.

the story I have so far is Boat angel sold if for $100 but the deal fell through. As far as I know at this point he owes the boat club only $200. I have no interest in this other then trying to help my club get rid of another "dead boat" Last night I was given permission the "find" someone that would want to take this boat. Anyone interested contact me please!

i thought that didn't look pull-able. so, you are talking around $200? where are you guys, in Pa?

well, rest at ease. he can't find the title, either. he just emailed me that, this morning. I asked him to fetch the HIN for me but I doubt he does. I told him I was 'doubtful' it was a j-24. I will probably ask him if I can take some stuff from it, before he cuts it up, or take it and strip it and cut it up, myself. I would hate to do that, but without a legal title.....plus, you are right about unseen safety issues. that is a concern.

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